Magic in the Mirror: Sitting Ducks
by Fairly Odd New Yorker
Summary: Mary Margaret returns to the world on the other side of the mirror to find her mirror minder. She discovers more than she could ever expect to in the years that follow. From the 1996 Moonbeam Entertainment film, Magic in the Mirror.
1. Orange Blossoms

**(A/N)-** Based off of the 1996 film '**_Magic in the Mirror_**', this is the one-shot turned multi chapter fanfiction entitled 'Sitting Ducks'. Mary Margaret/Tansy shipping. I tried to be subtle. It'll be more apparent in later chapters. And, as you can guess, the Drakes will also make an appearance, but not until later. Enjoy! I hope someone out there remembers this film. If not, watch it on youtube! The acting is cheesy, but I loved it.

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**Chapter 1: Orange Blossoms**

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"We gotta call it a night, Daisy."

"But _dad_!"

"No buts," he said, "It's way past your bedtime."

"Can't we just put together a couple more pieces?" Mary Margaret (or Daisy, as her father calls her) asked, holding up a huge shard of mirror in her hand, "We'll have it done by midnight!"

"And _you_ have school tomorrow, young lady." He reminded, as he grabbed up the broken pieces of his grandmother's mirror and placed them in a large paper bag.

Mary Margaret simply rolled her eyes in response, and folded her arms.

"It's been a whole month since I've seen Tansy ..." she said solemnly, "And Mellilot."

"They're fine, honey." Her dad insisted, as he stuffed his gloves in his pocket and scooped his daughter up, tucking her under her covers.

"You don't know that," she said, "There's still other Drakes to worry about. Who knows what could've happened to him?"

"In the morning, Daisy." He promised, "If you get up on time, we can put more pieces back together. Okay?"

She scowled at him, but nodded in response, and he kissed her on the forehead and bid her goodnight.

Mary Margaret waited until the house was quiet. She threw off her covers, tiptoed to the light switch, turned on the light, and sat down to continue her work.

"Where are my gloves?" she whispered aloud to herself. She couldn't find her father's gloves either. He must've taken them back down to his office. No matter. She had begun to put the mirror back together without gloves in the beginning, and before her father shouted at her for doing so and startled her, she didn't have a nick on her.

She looked at her band-aid covered thumb and sighed. She couldn't give up now. She was holding a bet within herself that she could get it done by midnight. It was nine-thirty. She still had plenty of time, and only a little less than half of the mirror to put back together.

Her fears that once it was whole again, it may not work ... that began to eat away at her as she grew nearer and nearer to getting it done. She just hoped she had enough polymer clay to last her. Anything requiring her to leave the room, she did not want. Her mom always seemed to hear her whenever she left her room, no matter how quiet she was. Even if she wasn't caught that night, she'd later be questioned at breakfast as to why she was roaming the hallways.

She was so sleepy that she didn't realize she had placed the last piece in; she'd been running like clockwork. The entire mirror glowed a bright blue when she did so, and it made her jump. When it turned back to normal, not a crack could be seen.

"Wow ..." she breathed, admiring how new and unharmed it looked. After a few seconds of admiring the handiwork that was the mirror's own doing, she got to her feet and hosted it upright. Seeing as it was about three times her size, this took a while. But she managed, and that added to her pride.

She snatched up the satchel from her night stand, and turned to the mirror to see the room Tansy often slept in, except there was no Tansy.

Her stomach plummeted.

Did the Drakes take him? Was he okay?

Without another thought, she stepped through the mirror, shaking head to toe. The mirror turned to liquid when she stepped through it, and it felt like water, only she came out on the other side dry to the bone. She normally enjoyed that feeling, but her nerves were crazy with worry for her dear mirror-minder.

"Tansy?" she called, uselessly. If he were in here, he'd certainly be hard to miss.

She quickly strode over to the door and wheeled it open, looking around at the field of mirror-minder doors that reminded her of a cemetary. It was broad daylight, just as it was when she first entered this world.

Her sore fingers brushed a piece of paper, and she looked at the other side of the door to find a sign that read 'condemned'.

She gasped lightly, and turned to run to find Tansy without even knowing where she was going. She didn't get very far, because right beside her was Melilot. She ran into his stomach with an "Oomf!"

"Mary Margaret!" He exclaimed.

"Melilot!" she beamed up at him, and gave him a big hug.

"So you're who has tripped the alarm!"

_'Nice to see you too' _she thought, rolling her eyes. Typical Melilot.

"Where's Tansy?"

"Your mirror no longer needed to be minded, and we have enough mirror minders here."

"That didn't answer my question ..."

"How ever did you manage to return here, child?"

"Tansy!" she shouted, mad at herself for behaving so childishly, but it was late and her fingers ached and all she wanted to do was to see her friend before she had to go to sleep and go back to icky school in the morning. How she longed to stay in this world forever ...

"Where is he?" she demanded.

"At his house, I'd expect," he said, "There isn't much left for a mirror minder to do if he isn't minding a mirror."

"Can you bring me there?"

"What is your rush?" he asked seriously, "You look as if you're dressed for bed, shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I'll explain on the way, if you'll bring me there."

"Of course, of course."

They traveled in the opposite direction of where they walked on her first visit. The endless open forest made her feel hopeless - if she didn't run, she felt like she'd make it to his house by dusk. And Melilot, bless him, he was going to get on her nerves. She'd managed to soften him a bit, but he did still behave like her grandfather. Only she never heard her grandfather scream in such a high-pitched voice as Melilot did. Then again, she never heard her grandfather scream at all, so it was still a possibility that he sounded the same as him.

She did explain why she was in her red and black plaid pajamas, but she fibbed and told him she had only begun to go to bed when she decided to step through the mirror, and that she and her father had put it together hours before.

"You haven't told them you were coming here?"

"No."

"They're going to be worried about you ..."

"It took them a while to realize I was gone the first time," she said, "And this time, they think I'm just asleep. It's all good."

"If you say so ..." and then he remembered, "Do you have enough mirror berries to return home?"

"Of course," she said, "I may be young but I'm not stupid."

Melilot laughed heartily, "My dear, you are far from stupid!" he exclaimed.

Mary Margaret smiled.

It wasn't long before they reached a village. Right off the bat, anyone could tell it was inhabited by mirror minders. All the roofs resembled the hats that Tansy and Melilot wore. All were in different sizes and shapes, and some had barns in the back fields with matching roofs as well.

They walked down the main path, and she tried to avoid all the stares she was receiving. Women stopped hanging clothes on the lines to look at her. Children dropped whatever they were playing with to stop and stare. The wives and children of the mirror minders hard at work, she supposed.

Melilot waved and nodded politely as they walked. Mary Margaret just held Melilot's hand tighter and tried to disappear into his arm.

"For one who's braved several Drakes at a time, you do seem quite frightened to face mirror minders." He muttered.

"Shut up." she grumbled. Melilot simply chuckled.

Her brown eyes were wide as she peeked at a small boy who peered at her from behind a wooden fence. She soon hid again, quickening her steps, trying to drag Melilot along to no avail.

"Here we are," he announced.

She had been walking the rest of the way with her eyes closed, hiding in the ruffles of Melilot's sleeve. She blinked the weary from her eyes as she looked up at the house before them. It seemed rather small, and the lawn was unkempt as opposed to all the other mirror minder's lawns. The windows looked dark as if no one was home, and the wood on the house and fence looked like they could use a couple coats of paint.

Melilot opened the front gate, which fell to the ground at the force of his pull. Mary Margaret jumped back, and looked up at the older mirror minder.

"Are you sure he's home?"

"Of course he's home," he assured, "Sleeping again, no doubt." He headed up the dirt-covered brick steps to the front door. He didn't bother to knock, he simply opened the door, and it was unlocked.

"You might want to watch your step, dear," Melilot warned, "Tansy's home isn't in the best condition, if you can't already tell."

She stepped into the darkness of his home, and immediately lost sight of Melilot. She waited a moment for her eyes to adjust, and was met by books. Piles of them. It looked like the grand canyon of books in what she guessed was his living room.

"Melilot?" she called.

"Over here."

She followed his voice, and graciously took his hand as he helped her step over a pile of books that had fallen into the path in the carpet that seemed so carefully made. A small effort to clutter free a cluttered home.

What she thought at first sounded like the rustle of paper was soon recognized to be familiar snoring. It was then that she saw him, by the light of the window. Tansy, her mirror minder, fast asleep on a couch with a book face down on his chest.

"There's your man," he said, "Just like you might have left him. Want me to wake him for you?"

Too late. Mary Margaret was so overjoyed to see him again that she leapt onto him with a loud "QUACK!"

He screamed.

"DRAKE!" he put on a face that looked like he was ready to cry as he tried to shrug the being off of him. She gave one of his long ears a tug and exclaimed, "It's me, silly!"

His forest green eyes soon met hers fearfully, but the look of fright quickly transformed into a look of joy. "Mary Margaret!"

He squeezed her tight, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He smelled like the musty old pages of a book, with a hint of the local pine trees. It was relaxing, almost made her sort of sleepy.

"I missed you so much!" she said through his coat collar, fighting back tears.

"I missed you too," he exclaimed in a hushed tone, and tousled her hair playfully before taking her by the shoulders, sitting her up to get a good look at her.

"My, you haven't changed one bit!"

She laughed, "It's only been a month!"

"Two months here," he said, "Time must run differently between our worlds."

"Mm," she agreed, nodding.

Melilot cut in, "My goodness child!" he exclaimed, walking forward, "What's happened to your hands?"

She hid them behind her back at this, eyes wide as she looked at Melilot, and looked back to Tansy. Her eyes fell in shame.

"Let me see," he said, in a demanding kind of tone. Her brown eyes looked sadly to him, and she held out her hands. Light cuts freckled her palms and fingers, a price to pay for being so hasty with the shards. Both Tansy and Melilot gasped at the sight of it.

"Mary Margaret!" Tansy exclaimed, "What happened?"

"I missed you," she mumbled, barely audible as she allowed tears to fill her eyes, "Both of you." She rubbed her eyes, "I put the rest of the mirror back together myself."

"Let's get you cleaned up," Tansy said, and she reluctantly crawled off his stomach as he rolled off the couch. She wanted to hold his hand but his house required beings to walk in a single file line. She gazed among the books as she followed him. Not one title looked familiar. She wondered if he read them all.

He stopped, and she nearly walked into him; she was so tired. They were in a small, dimly lit kitchen, and it appeared as if he used this area to pile books in as well.

He turned suddenly and picked her up.

Somewhere, deep inside of her, she felt angry. She suddenly wished she was tall enough to look him in the eyes, too big to pick up as easily as he could now. She assumed the reason for this was because her neck ached to always look up at people like she so often had to do.

He placed her on a space he'd cleared on the counter, next to the sink. She could see Melilot from where she sat. He had sat down on Tansy's couch and begun to flip through the book Tansy had been reading. His face looked amused and she wanted to ask what book it was, but another question seemed to tackle that one before she could utter it.

"Why don't you nap on your bed, Tansy?" she asked curiously, "It must be uncomfortable to fall asleep on the couch like that." She knew this from experience.

"That _is_ my bed," he said, with a grin that seemed to hide some sadness behind it.

"You sleep on _that_?" she asked, somewhat horrified.

"I don't have a bedroom. This house never had one."

She remembered his remarks back at her house. When he had asked if he and Melilot could live there if Queen Hysop were to banish them. She couldn't blame him for making that request. She could probably fit four copies of his house inside her own.

"Tansy ..." she whined mournfully at the state of her friend's living conditions.

"Don't worry about me now, let's worry about you," he said, his tone of voice more upbeat as usual. He always seemed to sound as excited as a young boy talking about a circus coming to town, no matter what the subject. She liked it. It brought her spirits up, and she suppressed a grin.

After telling her to mind her head, he opened a cabinet up from above, and it contained rows upon rows of brown bottles, bandage tape, and gauze. She looked at him in puzzlement as he took one of each down and placed them on the counter. He looked back at her, hearing the question without her asking it.

"Paper cuts," he said, brandishing his pinky to the little girl, "I don't get enough as I used to, but it helps to be prepared."

She sighed deeply.

He took her hands carefully as if he might break her, and ran them under the cold water. She winced and looked away.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She simply nodded, focusing her eyes on Melilot (who was still busy reading) to distract her from the pain.

Tansy didn't take too long cleaning her cuts, he worked quickly to disinfect and wrap up her hands. So quickly, in fact, that it caught her by surprise to see her hands fully bandaged. Boy, she really needed to go to sleep. She felt it tugging at the corners of her eyelids.

"All done." he announced proudly.

"Give me your hand," she said suddenly.

"Huh?" he asked, but did so anyway without a reason for this request. She gave him a chaste kiss atop his bandaged pinky finger.

"There." She said, "It should heal quicker that way."

"Are you a witch?" he asked in awe.

"No," she explained, "My mom and dad do that to my boo boos to make them feel better."

"Boo boos?" he asked, amusedly.

She inwardly kicked herself for using such a babyish word. "Injuries." She corrected, as if she hadn't used the other term.

"Oh." he realized, staring at his pinky. He looked back to her, and to her hands.

Very carefully, in fact so carefully she barely felt his fingers on her wrists, he held her hands up, palms up, and kissed each palm briefly.

"There." he said, mimicking her, "It should heal quicker."

She smiled, and was glad for the poor lighting in the kitchen that he most likely couldn't see the blush that she felt spread across her face.

What was wrong with her? Boys were icky. Boys like Rudy anyway. He deserved a good kick to the face.

But Tansy wasn't a boy. He was a man. Sort of, anyway. Much too old for her. She'd always be far too young, way too short. She didn't stand a chance, even though she knew mirror minders took much longer to age than humans did. Unless ...

"_Wait for me_ ..." she found herself whispering as she looked into his deep dark green eyes.

He looked confused, his eyes fluttered a bit, but before he could question what she meant, Melilot closed the book with a loud thud and got to his feet.

"I think it's time our people friend return home," he suggested. Actually, it sounded much more like an order than a suggestion.

"Yes, of course." Tansy answered, snapping back to reality with his playful grin. He helped Mary Margaret down, and she followed the two mirror minders out of the house and back to her mirror. She was too tired to speak, and too tired to know what she really meant by what she said.

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**(A/N)-** I hope it wasn't too fluffy. Review please. :)


	2. Begonia

**(A/N)**- Sorry for the delay! I had this chapter finished and hanging out on my external so I decided to post it. The next is about halfway done, but it needs revising. Thank you for those who have reviewed thus far, and I hope you enjoy this one! :D

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**Chapter 2: Begonia**

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Thirty years had passed since Mary Margaret last set foot into the Mirror World. 'Too long' thought Melilot. He hadn't seen Tansy in months, not since Queen Hysop passed a new law about the mirrors.

In order to prevent another mirror being breached, she ordered that every mirror that remained (currently there were thirteen, including Tansy's) to be taken to an empty room inside her palace. There, the mirrors would be minded by a single mirror minder. A different mirror minder would be assigned to mind them each day. This not only made the quality of life for a mirror minder better, but also made sure that the mirror minder on duty would not be napping; a common thing that many mirror minders tended to do due to lack of activity.

Any mirror minder who did not forfeit their mirror would be planted, and the mirror they minded would be melted. The latter, however, was simply a threat. Queen Hysop wouldn't dream of causing a mirror any harm. She had only decreed it so that the mirror minders would surely give up their mirrors for fear of harm coming to their mirrors as well as themselves.

Mirror Master Melilot had guessed that this hadn't been done sooner because there were now only thirteen mirrors left, and Queen Hysop was very superstitious. The number thirteen was considered unlucky in this world as well as the people world. Her Majesty wasn't about to take any chances.

One chance she did take was trusting Melilot. And really, she shouldn't have. In any other circumstances, Melilot was truly loyal, but when it came to Tansy ... he'd been through enough with the boy to ever reveal his whereabouts. Whenever the Queen mentioned Tansy, Melilot was careful to contain himself and reply simply that he hadn't seen him in years, and could not imagine where the boy could've gone off to.

This of course, was a lie. He knew exactly where Tansy was hiding. His hiding place was not much of a secret though. Queen Hysop's guards had searched his entire home, and although it wasn't much ground to cover, they still hadn't found him. In fact, the mirror minder had retreated into a hidden hatch in the ceiling with his mirror. Hysop's guards didn't notice the hatch, which was not well hidden to begin with. They couldn't see much beyond eye-level due to all the shrubbery which grew upon their heads. So you see, it wasn't Tansy's wit that had saved him this time; it was the Queen's own foolishness. Had her guards not have been previously planted residents of the realm, they would've seen the hatch, caught the mirror minder, and the mirror would've been safely secured in her own palace.

Tansy had dug his own grave. Whether or not he surrendered the mirror, he would be sentenced to be planted. He'd lost his chance the moment he went into hiding. Melilot knew this, and although he knew Tansy was foolish and ethically deserved to be planted in accordance to Hysop's law, he vowed to himself to keep him safe. After all, he was like the son he never had.

Melilot knew he had to get Tansy to Mary Margaret. It was his only chance to escape planting. She was his only chance. It was sad that the only thing separating the two worlds was nary an inch of mirror glass. If only Mel could find some mirror berries ... he knew Mary Margaret must still have some. Whether or not he'd already reunited with the girl, Melilot didn't know. He wondered why she hadn't gone through the mirror herself to see them, after all this time. Thirty years was a long time ... perhaps there wasn't hope in her, either. Perhaps Tansy should just come out of hiding and be sentenced to planting. After all, it wasn't like he'd be killed. Just planted. Melilot shuddered. He'd rather die than be planted.

"Mirror Master Melilot," Queen Hysop addressed as she entered her throne room.

He snapped out of his thoughts.

"Your Majesty," he replied respectfully, bowing low.

"I suspect a disturbance in the near future," she said in her normal airy tone of voice, empty of emotion, "Coming from the mirror of the people girl ..."

"Mary Margaret?" he offered.

Her eyes flashed dangerously.

"Pardon me, ma'am," he apologized, taking another bow "What do you propose?"

"Mirror minder Tansy must be found," she said sternly, "And I will need to speak with the girl. I cannot allow any more mirror berries to be in existence." Her voice softened to that of a caring mother, "My world must be kept safe."

She looked to Melilot, "Send my guards out to search the lands. And you too, Melilot, will search for him, but you will go alone. Go to wherever you think he may be hiding, but stay far out of view of my guards. If he sees them, he'll flee," she added darkly, "He has made a fool out of me for far too long. I want him here alive."

Melilot was shocked to hear this, but he did not display his fear. He simply bowed, "As you wish, my queen."

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"Tansy, wake up!" a voice bellowed as he was shaken urgently by the shoulders. Tansy made to scream, but a large hand covered his mouth. He looked to his attacker.

"Mewiwot?" he said through his mirror master's hand.

"Keep quiet," Melilot said before releasing him, "Have you got your mirror berry?"

Why did he even need to ask him that? It was all he had left of his only true friend in the entire world! Well, that and a copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which he kept safely hidden in one of his jacket's many inside pockets, along with the mirror berry she had given him on the last night he saw her. She was twelve years old then. How long has it been since? It felt like forever ...

Quickly, Tansy reached into his breast pocket and presented the mirror berry. Melilot smiled in the moonlight, "Good. We have to hurry."

"Where are we going?" Tansy asked in a whisper, getting to his feet. His question seemed to be answered right away, as his eyes immediately fell upon the mirror, which was now glowing.

"Where do you think we're going?" Melilot snapped, despite himself. Tansy had never seen him so worried, and so pale, but perhaps that was only the light from the mirror, "Her place. It's the only place safe for us now. Safe for you."

Tansy gulped audibly, "But Queen Hysop ... s-she'll ..."

"She won't be able to do anything once we're through the mirror, so come on," he grabbed him by the arm and practically tossed the younger man through the mirror. It was like a splash of cold water to the face, yet he came out on the other end bone dry. He was suddenly awake. He didn't know exactly what would become of him, but the weight of his crimes suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks, and, already being on his hands on knees on a carpeted floor, he collapsed.

Melilot came through and nearly stepped on his fallen form, "Oh, Tansy!" he scolded, annoyed. It was too dark for either of them to see anything.

"I think we're in a closet," Melilot muttered as he brushed past a row of hanging clothes, stopping down to drag Tansy to his feet. Tansy hadn't fainted like he usually did; he just lay there, eyes wide open, completely numb to everything. He eventually helped himself to his feet when he couldn't take Mel's bickering anymore - how dare he say Tansy weighed a ton?! He was one to talk!

Tansy shuffled over to the only light in the small room, slits through the closet door. He peeked out, and, after seeing that the coast was clear, he awkwardly opened the door and stepped into the light.

It didn't look a thing like Mary Margaret's room. The bed was different, for starters. It was now a four poster canopy bed, with loads of pillows on it instead of all her stuffed toys. The floor was clear of clutter, and a large bookshelf lined the wall where her mirror used to be. This was no longer the room of a child, but the room of an adult ... how long had it been?

"Perhaps she moved out," Melilot said fearfully, pulling back the curtains to look out into their front yard.

"No," Tansy said quietly, suppressing a smirk as he picked up the picture frame she had on her dresser. It was a collage of several pictures, one of her with her dad, one with her mom, one with all three of them at her high school graduation, a small picture of her making funny faces with two children he didn't know ... wow, she had grown! If it weren't for those deep brown eyes and that familiar smile, he wouldn't have recognized her. Her hair was still a dark brown, but her bangs were gone. She looked to be only just a bit younger than him now ...

He moved his thumb from the corner, and revealed another picture. It was a picture of her hugging a young man whom he didn't recognize ... and his smile faded.

"What?" Mel asked, and Tansy handed him the picture frame, and the small burst of happiness he had felt had diminished. He tried to ignore it, whereas in his earlier years he would've probably drowned in his own tears. Instead, he crept over to the doorway as Mel spoke.

"She's certainly grown up since we last saw her," Melilot chuckled, "She's about as old as my youngest granddaughter, wouldn't you say Tansy?" he looked up, "Tansy!"

Tansy hit his head painfully on the door frame as he turned quickly, "Shh!" he hushed, and crept quickly and quietly back to the closet, ushering Melilot along, "Someone's downstairs!" he whispered urgently.

Mel supposed it could be Mary Margaret, but Tansy's uncertainty caused his heart to race and he hid with him in the closet. Tansy closed it behind them, rather loudly.

"Who's up there?" a young feminine voice called. Vaguely, it resembled Mary Margaret's voice, but Tansy couldn't be too sure. He rubbed his aching forehead, glaring at Melilot through the dark for shouting like that, but the glare went unnoticed.

The bedroom door swung open and slammed against the wall, causing the mirror minders to jump. Tansy peeked through the blinds and watched as a broom came in, bristles first, followed by the person who was wielding it. Hair bound up in a ponytail and an oversized sweatshirt with tight jeans, reminiscent of the clothes she wore all those years ago ... it was Mary Margaret.

"Dad?" she called, and crept over towards the closet.

"It's her," Melilot whispered, "what are you waiting for?"

"I can't go out there," Tansy spat back, and backed deeper into the closet until he was concealed by the row of hanging clothes.

There was a sudden burst of light as the closet doors flew open and ...

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**(A/N)**- Horrible horrible cliffhanger, I'm evil. Review! :D


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